MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC Changes for the Better
Africa

Injection Molding

  • Improving the product quality by controlling the molding pressure in real time
  • Reducing the defect rate by monitoring the mold condition to perform molding in an optimal condition
  • Stabilizing the quality by preventing molding defects

Solution overview

Issues Solutions 
Improving the product quality by controlling the molding pressure in real time Perform a high-response pressure control with servo amplifiers supporting pressure control.
Reducing the defect rate by monitoring the mold condition to perform molding in an optimal conditionInspect for molding defects (position deviation, plastic/resin sticking to the mold) by MELSENSOR.
Stabilizing the quality by preventing molding defectsDetect unusual trends with a real-time data analyzer.

Solution details

Improving the product quality by controlling the molding pressure in real time

Perform high-response pressure control and improve product quality by pressure feedback control with pressure sensor signals directly input to the servo amplifiers.

Generate optimal pressure commands and set gains easily by adjusting the pressure control through a test operation on engineering software.

Key Points

  • A combination of a servo amplifier (MR-J4-B-LL) and a Motion CPU module (RnMTCPU) enable pressure control.
  • The servo amplifier flexibly responds to load changes and maintains the constant pressure by directly receiving analog signals from the pressure sensor and the pressure commands from the Motion CPU.

Reducing the defect rate by monitoring the mold condition to perform molding in an optimal condition

Ensure a stable operation and reduce the defect rate with MELSENSOR inspecting for molding defects (position deviation, plastic/resin sticking to the mold) and enabling feedback control based on the results.

Compare the image captured with a vision sensor to the pre-registered image without plastic/resin sticking to the mold and judge if they match.

Detect position deviations of the upper mold in XY directions with a laser displacement sensor measuring the distance to the upper mold and a PLC calculating the measured value.

Key Points

  • Prevent molding defects with a laser displacement sensor that monitors mold position deviation.
  • Prevent equipment failures with a vision sensor that monitors plastic/resin sticking to the mold.

Stabilizing the quality by preventing molding defects

Monitor the condition of injection molding machines with a real-time data analyzer utilizing the collected data to detect and prevent the increasing trend of defects.

Collect data of plastic/resin cylinder pressure measured with a pressure sensor and mold temperature measured with a thermal camera when pressure is applied.

Monitor the condition of an injection molding machine by comparing the collected data with the normal condition data using a real-time data analyzer.

Key Points 

  • A thermal camera enables temperature measurement of an object on which a thermometer cannot be installed.
  • The real-time data analyzer offers various analysis and diagnosis methods for various purposes and detects unusual data by analyzing data in real time.

Product Lineup

Mitsubishi Electric industrial computer MELIPC Series offers new values for Edge computing, IT system coordination, and device control with its robust features and flexibility utilizing general purpose applications.
Mitsubishi Electric’s Data Science Tool MELSOFT MaiLab is a data science tool that further improves manufacturing by replacing “human experience and intuition” with digital technology and enabling it to be easily incorporated into control systems.
The motion CPUs realize various motion control functions such as positioning, speed, torque, advanced sync, etc.